I couldn’t take it anymore. I confess that my appetite for crème caramel (my ex-favourite dessert) had dominated my afternoon. I insisted that by last night I would eat a crème caramel for an after-dinner treat. So, lo and behold, my dream came true. The best part of the dream was that it tasted so creamy, so flavoursome – like one of the most delicious vegan desserts I have ever had. Making it was both a challenge and a mind-bending experience, but all worthwhile. You’ll want to earmark this one. Oh, and did I forget to mention ? It’s as easy as pie to make and bake. For an extra special taste, add a few drops of cognac and then . . . we can all meet in heaven.

Makes 4-6 portions (depending on ramekin dish size)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CARAMEL

3/4 cup of white sugar (vegan)

¼ of a cup of spring water

a squeeze of a fresh lemon

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRÈME

½ pint of soya milk

½ pint of soya cream (I use Provamel)

2½ tbsp custard powder (not heaped)

2 tsp egg replacer (I use Orgran)

1½ tbsp white sugar (not brown, as it will alter colour and not look appetising enough)

1 tbsp maple syrup

½ tsp crushed cardamon (optional)

METHOD FOR MAKING THE CARAMEL

Place the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and allow to bubble. When it turns a nice golden colour, lower the heat and allow the caramel to turn into a darker medium brown colour (that is where the flavour lies). When this has happened, pour in equal amounts into ramekin dishes or a glass dish – it must not be shallow, as you don’t want a pancake. Ramekin dishes work well, however.

METHOD FOR MAKING THE CRÈME

Place the custard powder and egg replacer in a medium sized glass bowl, add ¼ cup of the milk, and mix into a paste. Now add the remaining milk and soya cream, and continue to mix.

Add the remaining ingredients, and using an electric hand blender (or by hand if you don’t have one) stir very well. Finally, use a soup ladle to pour equal amounts of the crème mixture on top of the caramel. Do this gently in order not to over-agitate the base.

Now gently place the ramekin dishes in a larger glass pyrex oven dish, and slowly half fill it with boiling water. Place this dish in a hot oven (200°C), and allow to bake for 45 minutes . Do keep an eye on them though, as ovens vary.

Take out of oven, allow to cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for a few hours – or better still, cook them the day before, and leave them in the fridge overnight.

To serve, scrape around the edges of the ramekin dish with a sharp knife, and turn each crème caramel upside down onto a saucer. The rest will be history.

Yes Robert it does look quite tempting ! Shared with non-vegan friends last night they couldn’t believe how great the taste was ! They also said that it didn’t at all suffer without the addition of eggs in it, so that was quite satisfying to hear !

Thanks so very much ! Hope you enjoy it ! We don’t much use white sugar ourselves and tend to sweeten with healthier options and always vegan varieties, however, for burning the sugar into caramel, I have’nt tried the brown, only because it’s not as easy to see when it browns when heating and unless the sugar achieves that burnt flavour, which is the key to the taste in this dessert, I am just a little hesitant – any burnt sugar isn’t healthy, so this dessert is only made once in an indulgent while ! However, I will wait to hear from you with your attempt ! Thanks for your constructive input !

Alex I don’t know which part of the world you live in but for USA & AUSTRALIA you can purchase ORGRAN Custard here is an amazon link for it, make sure you use your normal brand of vegan milk and all should remain vegan, as I believe all the ingredients are vegan http://www.amazon.com/OrgraN-Custard-Natural-Vanilla-Packages/dp/B000EHZZT0 – I do hope this helps. Best to you and let me know the outcome !

Hi Christina,
REGARDING VEGAN SUGAR.
All countries have different brands available – you need to google your area and find out what is sold locally to you in your healthfood store they should show you what is available, in the meantime here is a link that may help (I am in the Med not in the States) :http://veganbits.com/vegan-sugar/
“Most refined white sugar is processed over bone char and that rules it out as a vegan product. However, there are sugars that are not. These are the brands of sugar we know to be vegan:
Wholesome Foods
Florida Crystals
Hain Organic Powdered Sugar
Jack Frost
Supreme
Southern Bell
365 (the Whole Foods house brand).
You can use these tidbits to help you navigate through the sugar aisle: Beet sugar is vegan. Raw sugars or turbinado are also vegan. Other acceptable vegan sweetners include:
date sugar
rice syrup
fructose
corn syrup
succanat
barley malt
molasses
maple syrup
agave nectar”

Hi Vonney, as a matter of fact no, I haven’t tried it with nut milk – every body who is vegan or does not consume meat or dairy usually have their own choices of milk/dairy substitutes and this differs greatly for a host of different reasons. One is to remember the scope of this particular dessert – it is a ‘creme’ caramel therefore some form of vegan cream must be used, otherwise it is not a creme caramel – coconut cream is wonderful, but will alter it’s authenticity and become something else, not a creme caramel. I do love coconut cream though and use it for many other desserts and savoury dishes. Best to you !

““Most refined white sugar is processed over bone char ”
I never knew …and am a bit shocked.
I had no idea that white sugar was made that way!
Thank you for all your delicious recipes
It is however not easy to find alle the ingredients in Belgium.
But I will definitely try to find the vegan white sugar!
Thank you so much

Hi Miriam, thank you so much for all the wonderful work you do. For a long time i have not been making deserts requiring sugar or icing sugar, but have just noticed that you mentioned white sugar (vegan). Is it possible that i can still use these products. How do i know if it is vegan?? Many thanks for your help, Tracey

Tracey Hi there and thanks for your comment. Here is a link that gives the brands of sugar that are vegan http://veganbits.com/vegan-sugar/
Now apart from that, other sweeteners for many desserts that are vegan include: maple syrup, agave nectar syrup etc, so we are lucky in that respect. Hope the link helps. Cheers to you !

Hi Miriam, I made this as part of a vegan French-themed lunch – along with French Onion Pie and Salad Nicoise – and I replaced the soy cream with soy milk. It worked out beautifully and was absolutely delicious! However, the caramel toffee stuck to the bottom of my ramekins – there was still enough of it covering the custard, but I was wondering if the rest of was also meant to come out to be eaten? Thanks, Jane.

Jane Hi there and welcome here. Sounds like you had some fun with your lunch. I think that some of the caramel does stick to the bottom of the ramekin dishes, I don’t know whether you had too much stuck there – for next time perhaps allow it to thicken a tiny bit less after it becomes brown so that it does not solidify to that extent. That said, it sounds like you still managed to enjoy it with some caramel on top of it, and glad that it worked out beautifully for you and that it was enjoyed. Look forward to your future comments on my blog ! Cheers.

Hi Miriam, thanks for your quick reply! I’ve just been looking at some of your other recipes – when is your cookbook coming out, because I would definitely buy it!?! I also just saw your beautiful jewellery – I assume you ship to Australia? Thanks again, Jane.

Hi there Jane and thanks for dropping by here. My cookbook should be out in a matter of months, confirming dates soon. I shall let you know as and when since you are interested in purchasing it. I ship worldwide. All the best to you !!!

Iwas looking for a creme caramel recipe, and am happy to see you have one. It’s almost impossible to find vegan cream here in Australia, so I was about to ask you if you think it would work without it. Now I see that Jane posted that she had a good result using just soymilk instead of the cream. I was wondering if perhaps coconut cream would work in place of the cream. It is worth a try. I’ll let you know how it turned out. Thanks so much for your wonderful, inspiring recipes. And you’ll be pleased to know that your website is listed 2nd in a google search for “vegan creme caramel”!

Veroni Hi there and great to hear from you. I have since updated this recipe for my cookbook and it is a little different to this I have to say and better – reason being I am a huge creme caramel lover, well I used to be back in the day, truth is from time to time I miss it and get the urge, so I have worked on several versions and the final one is a vegan winner. If you make this with coconut milk (thick, rich and creamy) you will have a slightly altered taste – I have never made it with it, the only problem I foresee is that it may fight a little with the caramel taste – so if I were you I would opt for soya here. Let me know how it turns out and best of luck. Cheers !

Very good recipes, will definitely try out and come back to post here. All the ingredients are easily available in all stores nearby, the recipes are so yummy. Thanks again for mouth smacking recipe. Will come back in another couple of days to post after trying out .

Thank you Miriam! Today, its first time my husband appreciated my cooking after having Crème Caramel. I am waiting for new delicious recipes of yours. You should publish your recipe book. Thanks again Miriam.

Isabella Hi there and welcome here. I sense a huge sense of relief coming through your comment and I embrace it. Thanks for your wonderful feedback and I hope together with my recipes and your well intended endeavours that your husband will continue to enjoy the recipes here. My book is due to be published in some months from now and will be for sale in April 2013 (just over 9 months from now). I look forward to your future comment here Isabella and best wishes to you in the meantime.

Taylor Hi there and welcome here – many thanks for dropping by here with your comment. Regarding vegan sugar, most white sugar we get here in Europe is vegan. Many white sugar brands elsewhere are also vegan but some are not. Here is some general information for you that might help. These are the brands of sugar we know to be vegan:
Wholesome Foods
Florida Crystals
Hain Organic Powdered Sugar
Jack Frost
Supreme
Southern Bell
365 (the Whole Foods house brand).
You can use these tidbits to help you navigate through the sugar aisle: Beet sugar is vegan. Raw sugars or turbinado are also vegan. Other acceptable vegan sweetners include:
date sugar
rice syrup
fructose
corn syrup
succanat
barley malt
molasses
maple syrup
agave nectar.

I hope you try out my recipes and I look forward to your future comments on my blog. Best wishes to you in the meantime.

Wilson Hi there and welcome here. Thanks for your feedback on this. I have updated this recipe and made a much better version, it will be published in my upcoming book. Glad you tried this though and I look forward to your future comments on my blog !

Hi, thanks for this mouth watering recipe. Just by reading the recipe and seeing the photo I was not able to control my taste buds! I tried it out and it came out really well. I have bookmarked this page for further reference.

Hi there Jenna and welcome here. Thanks for that. I just wanted to say that since I created this recipe a year or so ago I have created a much better cream caramel than this one – and it will be published in my upcoming book – I am so proud of the result as it really is quite plump and full of flavour that resembles it’s non-vegan version. I am glad that you have enjoyed this one though. Best wishes your way and I look forward to your future comments on my blog !

Wright Hi there, my published version of this in my upcoming book is far better than this one (did I say that ? ) – If you are a chocolate lover however in the meantime, then please try my (easy to make) Chocoholic’s Cheesecake ! I look forward to your future comments on my blog and best wishes your way.

Olivia Hi there. If you are not great in the kitchen, then this is not a recipe to start with truly. Best to start with another recipe like one of my pasta dishes, then you can try another recipe of your choice building your confidence on the results. Good luck and enjoy !

What a tasty,mouth watering dish!
The pictures are making me feel more hungry.I was lucky to have found this blog at the correct time and my guests on last weekend party had a treat of Creme Caramel from me.I added almonds,cashews cut in pieces and few black currents for garnishing.I appreciate you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us and I am quite excited to try it out many more times from now.

Hi Isabelle and thanks for dropping by here with your comment. The cream caramel on this site was created a long time ago – since then it has been perfected and I have used other ingredients that make it taste and stand far better – my new recipe is in my new book ‘Mouthwatering Vegan’ – just to let you know for future reference or interest. Meantime I very much look forward to your future comments on my blog an so glad you found my site too ! Best your way !

I have been reading your recipes for quite sometime and really enjoy them. I have also tried most of them and they turn out to be very tasty. This recipe too is on my list. I will try this out one of these weekends.Keep updating tasty treats for us:)

Hi there Bailey thanks for dropping by here and am so glad to hear that you have enjoyed many of my recipes from here. This creme caramel is pleasang, although the one in my book is sensatonal, I developed this a handful of years ago, and as creme caramel was a favourite of mine, my intention was to perfect it, which I did in my book. That said, this is pleasant and I hope you enjoy it ! Let me know how it goes as and when. Best wishes your way in the meantime !

Dear Miriam
I have recently purchased your book and I am SO SO excited to have ago at some (actually all ;)) of your recipes. I plan to start with the cream caramel- can I pls ask if adding the cognac (as per the recipe in your book) is essential to the taste as I am not a big fan of alcohol. Do you think the outcome will still taste like the ‘real’ cream caramel if I do not add the cognoc?
Many thanks

Ethaar hi there. I myself am not fond of alcohol, and it’s all in the quantity that you add. I added it for the edge I wanted to achieve and I love it for that, as it’s in the right context, and not alcohol in the neat sense. The cream caramel in the book is different from this one as you will see, as I improved upon this one. Be sure to cook the sugar sufficient enough to achieve that deep caramel flavour ! Let me know how it goes as and when.

Thanks for the reply Miriam. I tried this this weekend…it tasted good but I don’t think i did a good job of the caramel as it looked nothing like yours (i have uploaded a picture on my FB page)..It somehow did not set (solidify) and looks like it filtered into the creme during the baking process…will try again soon but very proud of my first attempt though ;)..Thanks again.

Ethaar Hi – as this is an old recipe and I have since created a perfect vegan cream caramel published in my book together with a multitude of other recipes (including a cheese section), then this recipe is by no means perfect. Good on you for persisting and trying this out, hope your next attempt yields a better consistency. Cheers !

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